Life expectancy at birth has increased every year for many reasons. It's now around 80 in the UK ( 78 for males, 82 for females ) and 71 in the Philippines ( 69 for males, 74 for females ).
There's controversy about how much it will continue to increase, just as there is still uncertainty about the causes of ageing. Of course there are well known lifestyle risk factors like smoking and obesity, and also our cells are genetically regulated.
Recently there's been much publicity about a "life expectancy test" developed at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid. They expect this soon to be available to the public. From a simple blood sample it measures the length of telomeres. These are protective structures on the ends of chromosomes, which shorten every time most cells divide. Cancer cells and stem cells keep on dividing because their telomeres don't shorten.
The test can't predict the exact number of years someone will live, but they are likely to die younger if their telomeres are short. We don't know if longer telomeres allow a longer lifespan.
Telomeres are important - both in the ageing process and cancer - but they're not the only influences. Modifying telomeres may help in cancer treatment.
It's possible finding out you have short telomeres could encourage a healthier lifestyle, but I can't see people rushing to pay for a test which is expected to cost 435 GBP, or the NHS paying for it! Also, only a psychic would claim to know if / when your lifespan might end unnaturally ; let's hope today (May 21) is NOT the end of the world
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Originally Posted by grahamw48
... at 66, guess I won't be waiting too long to find out!
